Russian forces ‘breaking’ themselves, Zelensky says in visit to front lines
Joel Gehrke
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A protracted struggle for control of a city in eastern Ukraine is “breaking” down the invading Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told soldiers at the front lines.
“Since May, the occupiers have been trying to break our Bakhmut, but time goes by and Bakhmut is breaking not only the Russian army, but also the Russian mercenaries who come to replace the wasted army of the occupiers,” Zelensky told the Ukrainian forces on Tuesday.
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Bakhmut has been the focal point of an intense Russian assault in recent months, a “meatgrinder” of a struggle that perplexed many international observers, though the side that controls the city will enjoy valuable logistical advantages in Donbas through the winter. Zelensky’s decision to put himself “right in the middle of it” surprised even Ukrainian citizens accustomed to his determination to be a public symbol of resistance in the war.
“Bakhmut is the hottest spot on the entire front line — more than 1300 km of active hostilities,” Zelensky said Monday evening in his regular video address. “Just think about it: Russia has already lost almost 99 thousand of its soldiers in Ukraine. … They wage war and waste people’s lives, other people’s lives, not of their loved ones, not their own lives, but the lives of others only because a group in the Kremlin can’t admit mistakes and is terribly afraid of reality. But reality speaks for itself.”
The Ukrainian leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin distributed state awards on Tuesday, though the ceremony Putin oversaw took place in Moscow.
“We are really living in difficult and unusual times,” Putin told a Kremlin audience. “Today, the difficulties are particularly pronounced. There is no doubt that our military, our warriors in the special military operation zone are faced with the most complicated, demanding, and dangerous tasks.”
The Russian operation around Bakhmut is part of an effort to pressure “our troops in order not to allow us to regroup,” according to Ukrainian Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, who said in a recent media interview that he believes Russia is trying to buy time to prepare for another offensive.
“The enemy continues to focus its efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions,” military officials said in a Tuesday update on the conflict. “It is trying to restore the lost position on Lyman and conducts defense in other directions. … The threat of enemy air and missile strikes on critical infrastructure remains throughout Ukraine.”
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Zelensky toured “the front line positions of one of the mechanized brigades, the personnel of which is confronting the enemy on the approaches to the city,” according to his office.
“I think that the heroes of Bakhmut should have what every person has, that everything should be OK for their children, their families, that they’re warm and healthy,” he said, per a BBC translation. “I’d like to wish them light, but it’s such a difficult situation that there is light and then there isn’t. The main thing is for there to be inner light.”